SPARTANBURG, S.C. – ETSU redshirt sophomore Mats Ege has been named the Southern Conference Men’s Golf Player of the Year, while the Buccaneers’ Matthew Dodd-Berry has been named the SoCon Freshman of the Year in voting conducted by the league’s eight head coaches. Furman’s Matt Davidson was voted the league’s Coach of the Year.
The league also named a 10-member all-conference team and a five-member all-freshman team, with the all-conference team and all-freshman team voted on by the coaches, who could not vote for their own players or themselves.
Ege, who is ranked No. 67 nationally, is second in the SoCon in stroke average at 69.85. The Kristiansand, Norway, native posted seven top-10 finishes, including wins at the General Hackler Championship in March and the SoCon Championship in April. Ege was dominant in both of his victories this season as he never dropped below second on the individual leaderboard at the General Hackler en route to his first collegiate victory. He shared medalist honors at the General Hackler with eighth-ranked Virginia golfer Ben James. During the SoCon Championship, Ege led throughout the tournament, finishing with a 14-under-par 202 overall score to capture his second victory of the season. He was the SoCon Player of the Week on March 15 and was recently selected to play in the 2023 Palmer Cup, named after SoCon Hall of Famer Arnold Palmer. Ege winning player of the year marks the 15th time a Buccaneer has received the honor.
Dodd-Berry has a 72.24 stroke average, which is 15th in the SoCon. The native of Wirral, England, posted four top-25 finishes and shot even-par or better in five tournaments this season. Dodd-Berry saved his best performance for the SoCon Championship, finishing second after shooting a 10-under-par 206 for the tournament. The freshman’s performance at the SoCon Championship was his first top-five finish and his best score overall score of the season. Dodd-Berry, who is also a member of the all-freshman team, is the eighth ETSU golfer to win SoCon Freshman of the Year.
Davidson, who was the SoCon Player of the Year in 2002, earned his first SoCon Coach of the Year honor and Furman’s 11th overall. The fifth-year coach guided the Paladins to top-10 finishes in all 11 tournaments this season, including five top-five finishes. Furman’s highest finish of the season came in March at the Cleveland Golf Palmetto Intercollegiate, when the team was the runner-up to South Carolina. The Paladins defeated two Power Five opponents in that event as Wisconsin finished third, while Virginia Tech was fifth. Davidson led the team to a third-place finish at the SoCon Championship last month, fueled by the team shooting a 13-under 275 in the final round.
Chattanooga claimed a league-best four All-SoCon selections. The Mocs placed juniors Paul Conroy, Samuel Espinosa and John Houk and sophomore Garrett Engle on the all-conference team. ETSU had three selections on the all-conference team with Ege, redshirt junior Archie Davies and sophomore Algot Kleen making the squad. Furman sophomore Will Morlan, Mercer senior Tobias Jonsson and UNCG graduate student Nick Lyerly rounded out the all-conference team.
Dodd-Berry was joined on the all-freshman team by Furman’s Harris Barth, Samford’s Matthew Smith, Western Carolina’s Josh Lendach and Wofford’s Max Cranford.
The Buccaneers clinched an automatic berth to the NCAA regionals by virtue of their win at the SoCon Championship. The NCAA field will be announced live on Wednesday, May 3, at 1 p.m. (ET), on the Golf Channel.
2022-23 Southern Conference Player of the Year
Mats Ege, R-So., ETSU
2022-23 Southern Conference Freshman of the Year
Matthew Dodd-Berry, ETSU
2022-23 Southern Conference Coach of the Year
Matt Davidson, Furman
2022-23 All-Southern Conference Team
Archie Davies, R-Jr., ETSU
Mats Ege, R-So., ETSU
Algot Kleen, So., ETSU
Will Morlan, So., Furman
Tobias Jonsson, Sr., Mercer
Nick Lyerly, Gr., UNCG
Paul Conroy, Jr., Chattanooga
Garrett Engle, So., Chattanooga
Sam Espinosa, Jr., Chattanooga
John Houk, Jr., Chattanooga
2022-23 All-Freshman Team
Matthew Dodd-Berry, ETSU
Harris Barth, Furman
Matthew Smith, Samford
Josh Lendach, Western Carolina
Max Cranford, Wofford